Photo: Kepper66 · CC BY-SA 3.0Marshalltown’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Marshalltown Public Library serves Marshalltown’s 33,566 residents. Last year it lent 201K print books and media and logged 110K visits.
What stands out about Marshalltown’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Marshalltown’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Marshalltown is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #125 of 138 in Iowa. Marshalltown’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($52K–$86K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
128 community nonprofits are registered in Marshalltown
4.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.5%
4.5% of Marshalltown’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Iowa town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Marshalltown’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Marshalltown last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Marshalltown Public Library serves 33,566 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
201K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 123K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
Find it
Marshalltown Public Library, 105 W Boone St., Marshalltown.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Marshalltown cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 29,274 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Marshalltown
Does Marshalltown have a public library?
Yes. Marshalltown Public Library, 105 W Boone St., serves Marshalltown’s 33,566 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marshalltown Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Marshalltown’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 6.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Marshalltown’s civic life grade?
C Marshalltown is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #125 of 138 in Iowa. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Marshalltown.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.